Fairy Tale
by Dragavon
Summary: Alex is trapped inside a fairy tale.  Justin has to live through it to save her.  Jalex.  Spoilers for Harperella
1. Chapter 1

(A/N: Yeah I don't know why I started a third story when I haven't finished the previous two other than the fact that I might be a masochist.)

Disclaimer: I do not own Wizards of Waverly Place. If I did they wouldn't be able to show it on the Disney Channel.

Justin busily leafed through a spell book, enjoying both the smell of the ancient paper as well as the feeling of fragility in his hands. He loved these old books, not only for the aesthetic value, but for the hidden lore they contained. Each page was a gateway to a new bit of information, a new spell or a new secret that would bring him closer to understanding all of magic. He was deep in one of his favorite fantasies that was ever present in the back of his mind. In it he imagined himself becoming the youngest wizard to obtain a seat at the Wizard Council. He knew it was possible because he was the youngest wizard to complete his magical training in the last 100 years. Additionally he was the youngest Monster Hunter in the history of Monster Hunters as well as being the youngest wizard to ever create a spell. The Council was another goal that could be accomplished with a lot of hard work, a lot of willpower and just a touch of luck. He could imagine the glorious white beard he would be allowed to possess as well as the prestige and accolades that would go along with it. He could imagine the look of pride in his father's face. The look of acceptance on his mother's. He mentally chuckled at the look of incomprehension on Max's face as Justin mentioned joining the Wizard Council, and he could almost hear Max questioning why anybody would want to join a Lizard Council. And finally the look on Alex's face would be...a sneer of derision. Stars and stones, even in his head, she plagued him and ruined his fun. He could see her rolling her eyes as she mocked him for joining what she would term an old nerd's club. Fortunately before the fantasy turned into his desire to wipe that imaginary smirk off her face in disturbing ways, he heard Harper's cry of distress.

He indulged himself for a second. Gently closing the centuries old tome in front of him, he gently thumped his head against the desk in front of him. The quick spike of pain caused by the contact between his skull and the polished wood cleared his mind quickly of his fantasies, both the prosaic as well as the sexual one that had been forming, as well as communicated his frustration to the universe at large for dragging him into these situations. He slid his chair back, and strode towards in the location where he had heard Harper, making sure not to run. Panic would not improve whatever new dilemma Max or more likely Alex had caused. As he took the stairs down to the living room, he heard Harper footsteps echo on the metal staircase as she ran up from the Sub Station. She was immediately followed by another set of steps that he imagined was his brother. As she nearly bumped into him on the stairs, he put out his hands on her shoulder to prevent her not only from ramming into him, but to also prevent her from falling backward at the sudden decrease in her velocity. As soon as she saw who was holding on to her, she stared sputtering furiously. Unfortunately due to her agitation, the only words that were comprehensible were "Alex...Max...magic...book...help." As she finished the last word, and stood there panting, Max appeared behind her with a fatuous grin on his face that simply confirmed to Justin that his brother had once again done something with magic that made sense only in the confines of Max's illogical mind.

As soon as she got her breath back, Harper once again tried to communicate the dilemma to him. Putting his hand on Harper's mouth to block the unending flow of unintelligible words, he stated "Calm down and tell me the problem, Harper." Harper tried to compose herself, and explain to him what exactly had happened but her agitation did not make the recital much more understandable. All he got out of her sentences was the facts that Harper had unintentionally been reading one of Alex's old Wizard storybooks, Alex had tried to warn her, Max had gotten involved and now Alex was trapped in said fairy tale.

Again, Justin closed his eyes and silently entreated to the universe forced him to continually clean up after his sister. "Max, why did you... Never mind." he stated, immediately knowing an answer from his sibling would not only not make sense, it might confuse him further. "Max, give me your wand. Harper, take this and keep it away from him so he doesn't make the situation worse, and keep an eye on Max, I'm going to have to go save Alex." He handed Harper the wand, he had just taken from his brother. He could see his Max's features form into a sulk, but he would deal with that if and when he got back. "Which tale where you reading, Harper when this all occurred?" At the mention of Cinderella, Justin turned to the appropriate page and started reading. The book started glowing brighter and brighter, and just when the light became almost unbearable, it faded and he found himself back in his room. Immediately a voice started yelling from downstairs, "JUSTIN FELLA, YOU COME DOWN HERE AND FINISH YOUR CHORES OR YOU'RE IN TROUBLE!"


	2. Chapter 2

He looked down at himself and grimaced in distaste. He was wearing a ragged t-shirt, board shorts and flip flops. Even as a maddeningly familiar voice from downstairs berated him about his chores, he opened his closet to find something to wear. Frustratingly, all the clothes hanging neatly in his closet were the same variations on a theme. Ragged shirts and baggy pants were all that populated the closet. Evidently since he was Cinderella in this story, this was all he had to wear. Sighing in vexation, he headed downstairs. On the way, he entertained another fantasy. Technically Max was the cause of this predicament, but as always Alex had something to do with it. The only way Harper could have gotten her hands on those magic storybooks was if Alex had been careless with them. He imagined putting Alex across his lap and giving her the spanking she definitely deserved. Just when he started to truly enjoy the thought, multiple voices yelling out for "JUSTIN VINCENZO PEPÉ FELLA" forced him to concentrate on the crisis he was currently facing. His satisfaction would have to wait.

As soon as he made it downstairs and got a good look at the people in his living room, he immediately began grinding his teeth. Mason Greyback, Ronald Longcape, Jr., Stevie Nichols and Dean Moriarty were all sitting on his couch, watching TV like they owned the house. Mason was the first to speak up as Justin arrived in the room. "Justin, you haven't made me any tea yet. " Ronald quickly followed with "Justin, finish folding the laundry." "He hasn't made dinner" complained Stevie. "And he still has to clean my car", whined Dean. Obviously this was his evil stepfamily. Oddly appropriate considering how he felt about each of them. Justin wondered whether turning them all into turkey sandwiches and feeding them to the homeless would make the story run faster. With a strangled groan, he determined that it would be best not to try a shortcut and instead soldier his way through this. And then make Alex pay for each indignity. He decided to go about doing the chores. He was responsible for a majority of them anyway in his real life since his parents spent most of the day working at the Sub Station, Max was too unpredictable and Alex was too unreliable to entrust with anything important. He was about to head to the kitchen to start making tea for that British Arsehole as he called him in his mind, when he noticed what they were watching. All four of them were drooling, in Dean's case literally, over a racy music video by some singer named Mikayla. He paused to enjoy the video because she was beautiful and the pop song was ridiculously catchy.

After several hours of work that consisted of unnecessary chores mixed with ridiculous requests, he finally found a moment where none of them were near him demanding something pointless. He walked downstairs to the basement with the intent of starting another load of clothes in the washer. He grimaced over the wet dog smell emanating from what had to be Mason's clothes and started the machine. After the washer started through its cycle, he relaxed fractionally as he estimated that the noise would be sufficient to cover his actions. He immediately started calling for his Fairy Godmother imaging that in this situation it would be the storybook version of Professor Crumbs. He heard a familiar voice behind and quickly spun around to see…himself sitting on a rocking chair in the basement?

It was very disconcerting to see a three dimensional version that he was used to only seeing in the mirror, sitting in the chair wearing a full tuxedo calmly looking back at himself. The words "What the…?" escaped his mouth and immediately his double assumed a look he imagined had been seen by Alex more times than he could count. It was the "You need to think things through" look that was capable of irritating her instantly. The other Justin opened his mouth and started with "The reason for a godparent is…"

Justin replied with "To ensure a person's upbringing and personal development."

"Very good. And the only option to be a Fairy in this story would be…" OtherJustin said a condescending tone

"A wizard who could cast spells." Justin replied patiently.

"Again very good. So the only person you know who could both cast spells and be responsible enough to look out for you would be…" OtherJustin continued, his voice continuing to be insulting.

"Me. Dad and mom don't have magic. Everybody else I know who has magic is usually untrustworthy." Justin replied between gritted teeth, wondering if he sounded that derisive to others.

"This brings us to a problem which you better be aware of before it catches you by surprise.

"Which would entail?"

"Remember this is a story about love and romance between the main character, which would be you, and in this case a princess who falls madly in love with you, searches you out and kisses you."

"That really does not sound like a problem."

"Except the other person trapped in this tale is Alex, and we both know she's the suited to be play that part. Remember how many time we called her Daddy's little princess?

"I HAVE TO GET MY SISTER…" He shouted before he could control himself.

"Keep it down, or they'll hear you upstairs." OtherJustin interrupted hastily

Justin grudgingly modulated his tone. "I have to get my sister to fall in love with me, and make out with her?"

The other version of himself raised one eyebrow and stated emphatically "Please don't practice deception with yourself. Remember that I'm a portion of you split off by the magic of the storybook. So I know exactly every single memory you've had as well as every single thought. We want to make out with Alex and at the same time we are terrified of what will happen. I just wanted you to be forewarned because we do not react well when surprised. It's easier for us to prepare for every eventuality. Fortunately everyone else in this story will have no memory of this when we finish it."

Justin wondered if the feeling unsettling his stomach was fear or anticipation.


End file.
